The FBS is down to three undefeated teams this year, and two of them reside within the Group of 5. Those schools rank at No. 42 (Georgia), 101 (Cincinnati) and 128 (UTSA) in strength of schedule according to ESPN’s Football Power Index. By strength of record, Georgia is No. 1, Cincy is 5, and UTSA is 11. Going undefeated has its perks. Other teams spent last week clearing up conference race pictures, which we once again have shown at the bottom of this week’s rankings:
#1. Cincinnati Bearcats (Last week: 1)
Cincinnati got out to a 24-point lead early in the second half against USF Friday but struggled to put the game away. The Bearcats had a chance to do so after the Bulls fumbled on a kickoff to give Cincy the ball in the red zone while already up by 17 in the fourth quarter, and Cincy fumbled the ball right back to USF, which drove 98 yards for a touchdown. A 55-yard touchdown run by Ryan Montgomery with less than two minutes left finally sealed the deal with Cincinnati winning 45-28, but the Bearcats’ three turnovers took away from what could have been a dominant performance against a struggling team. Desmond Ridder broke the program record for career touchdown passes as he threw two in the game to push his career total to 79, breaking Gino Guidugli’s record of 78. Ridder is also second to Guidugli in career passing yards for the Bearcats, now at 9,330 after throwing for 304 against USF. Ty Van Fossen made seven tackles including three for loss and a sack to lead the defensive efforts for Cincy. Cincinnati has two games left this season, which will come against the teams currently third and fourth in the American standings. The Bearcats can set a date with Houston in the AAC Championship Game with a win this week over SMU. Kickoff on Saturday is set for 3:30 p.m. Eastern.
#2. BYU Cougars (2)
BYU had a bye week after the Cougars’ offense finally showed what it was capable of in its last two games. After just two 30-point performances in its first eight games and topping out at 35 points, BYU has combined for 125 points over its two most recent games, wins over Virginia and Idaho State. Tyler Allgeier has been brilliant for the Cougars all season, rushing for 1,167 yards and 17 touchdowns. Allgeier has averaged 5.7 yards per carry and helped keep the offense afloat when starting quarterback Jaren Hall was injured earlier in the season. This week, BYU is getting set to play what should be a blowout at Georgia Southern. Kickoff between the 8-2 Cougars and 3-7 Eagles is set for 4 p.m. Eastern Saturday.
#3. Houston Cougars (5)
Houston punched its ticket to the American Conference Championship Game in style with a 37-8 win over Temple Saturday. The Cougars dominated from start to finish, taking a 24-0 lead into the fourth quarter, forcing three turnovers, and more than doubling the Owls in both total yards and first downs. Clayton Tune was 21-34 for 224 yards and two touchdowns, while Alton McCaskill led the ground unit with 129 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries. The Houston defense made three interceptions including one on a trick play where Temple wide receiver Amad Anderson Jr. threw a pass that was picked off by Marcus Jones for his third interception of the season. Houston now gets set to play a Memphis team looking for bowl eligibility Friday night. Kickoff from Houston will be at 9 p.m. Eastern.
#4. UTSA Roadrunners (3)
UTSA had rattled off three straight wins of at least 21 points before struggling mightily against Southern Miss, which came into the game at 1-8 on the season. The Roadrunners trailed in the second half for the first time since trailing early in the third quarter in a 52-46 win over Western Kentucky on October 9 and just the third time all season. It was just the second time this year that UTSA trailed at home, the first being a 10-7 deficit in the second quarter against UNLV. Two turnovers early in the game, a failed fourth-and-1 from the Southern Miss 3-yard line, and a missed field goal contributed to the struggles before the Roadrunner defense forced turnovers on each of the final three possessions of the game by the Golden Eagles. UTSA turned its possessions following the turnovers to field goal, touchdown, end of game to escape with the 27-17 win. Frank Harris completed just 17 of his 30 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns while adding 54 rushing yards. UTSA hosts UAB this week in a game that will likely decide the CUSA West as the Roadrunners would clinch the division with a win and UAB would win the division with a win and another win or UTSA loss in the final week of the season. Saturday’s game will kick off at 3:30 p.m. Eastern.
#5. San Diego State Aztecs (6)
San Diego State churned out another close win over a tough Mountain West opponent in a 23-21 win over Nevada Saturday. Star kicker/punter Matt Araiza continued his incredible season, averaging 55.6 yards on his five punts and making three field goals, the last of which put the Aztecs in the lead with less than two minutes left to play. The Aztec defense forced Nevada to be one-dimensional, allowing just eight rushing yards to the Wolfpack. Cameron Thomas led the way for SDSU defensively with 10 tackles, 3.5 for loss, two sacks and a QB hurry. Carson Strong led Nevada’s offense with 350 passing yards and three touchdowns, but the defense did just enough to allow its more balanced offense to sneak away with the victory. Greg Bell gained 104 yards on 16 carries in the win to provide an offensive spark for the Aztecs. San Diego State moves on to a road contest with 2-8 UNLV Friday looking to get to 10 regular-season wins for the first time since 2017. That game will kick off at 11:30 p.m. Eastern.
#6. Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns (7)
#7. Appalachian State Mountaineers (8)
#8. SMU Mustangs (11)
#9. Utah State Aggies (10)
#10. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (4)
#11. Fresno State Bulldogs (12)
#12. Nevada Wolfpack (9)
#13. Liberty Flames (15)
#14. UAB Blazers (On the Bubble)
#15. Northern Illinois Huskies (OTB)
Dropped Out
UCF (13), Marshall (14)
On the Bubble
Boise State, UCF, Army, Air Force
Conference Championship Watch
American Athletic Conference
Houston (7-0) – FPI odds to win conference: 28.5%
Cincinnati (6-0) – 69.6%
SMU (4-2) – 1.8%
Conference USA
East:
Western Kentucky (5-1) – FPI odds to win division: 50.2%
Marshall (4-2) – 49.3%
West:
UTSA (6-0) – 73.1%
UAB (5-1) – 26.9%
Mid-American Conference
East:
Miami – 58.3%
Kent State – 41.6%
West:
Northern Illinois – 91.3%
Central Michigan – 8.3%
Mountain West Conference
Mountain:
Utah State (5-1) – 72.6%
Boise State (4-2) – 17.8%
Air Force (4-2) – 9.6%
West:
San Diego State (5-1) – 43.6%
Fresno State (5-2) – 55.1%
Sun Belt Conference
East:
Appalachian State (5-1) – 99.0%
Georgia State (4-2) – 0.5%
Coastal Carolina (4-2) – 0.4%
West:
Louisiana (7-0) – 100% (clinched)
Murphy's Field 
Leave a comment